His plan is to live in it and have roommates as well. 

I mismanaged funds and had my own revolving door of friends/roommates.

I did that without knowing what it was called by having my roommate pay my condo mortgage.

If you want to sell your condo and live in the Atlanta area, I would:Look for units so you can live in one unit and rent the other.Look for a single family if you don't mind roommatesCheck local ordinances to check on landlord tenant laws to make sure if you do have a roommate that stops paying, you can get rid of them.5% down on conventional is the best way to go if you're going to buy a single unit because mortgage insurance is going to be significantly less, improving your cash flow. 

20 year olds  and 40 year old roommate..... how long do you think that's gonna last?

*This is more important if you're "renting by the room" with roommates than if you're "Renting by the unit" in a multifamily or a single family with your own private kitchen and entrance. 4.

My college age son is paying $1,400/mo (with roommates) for a dumpy little house in a bad neighborhood near the airport that is not worth it!

They are also only set up to accept 1 payment which helps protect you against partials but also means roommates need to figure something out for 1 payment. 

Is it possible for you to move to PHX, house hack, but frequently stay at your uncles place, allowing you to have more roommate in your PHX home, eventually renting out your room after you feel as though you have completed what you feel is necessary to say that your intention when you closed was that it would be your primary residence? 

But my roommate and I were able to live in a nice house with "rent" of about $300/month for the next 3 years.